Brooks Shane Salzwedel’s photography, between the possible and the imagined

Salzwedel uses his inner strength and inner child to tell his story: a self-created process involving different materials to portray natural and unnatural landscapes

Lampoon presenting Brooks Shane Salzwedel

Brooks Shane Salzwedel’s lands – captured within his landscapes, often engaged in various stages of contemplation and transformation – are fueled with the paradoxical energies of the possible and the imagined. The works show the rules of nature with a bit of chaos, creating unlikely scenarios. One will find oil rigs, fire pits, pills, rainbows, logos, viruses, planes and other curios creating a narrative when pieced together. Salzwedel is using his inner strength and inner child to tell his story: a self-created process involving materials such as graphite, waterproof inks, colored pencil, pen, acrylic, tape, spray paint, collage and glass gives an even further feeling of depth. Reimagining a new life for the objects, he often uses Bullseye Glass – recyclable glass and sometimes parts of broken glass that would have been disposed of. His work often focuses on natural and unnatural landscapes, disconnected from their usual surroundings or places in time. «I want to evoke feelings of desolation through these terrains». Ancient trees, decaying flora, and icy mountains obscure long forgotten places and objects, at once familiar and unrecognizable, creating a space for rumination that challenges the relationship to their meaning.

Brooks Shane Salzwedel photographer

Native to Long Beach, California, the artist received his BFA from the Art Center College of Design, Pasadena in 2004. With multiple solo and group exhibitions under his belt, the most recent solo show by Salzwedel, Isolate/Don’t Isolate was displayed in 2019 at Benjamin Eck Gallery, Munich. His work has been presented at museums worldwide including a solo show at MOAH, Lancaster Museum of Art and History, CA (2018) and group shows at Honolulu Museum of Art, HI (2017), Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2010), MOCA, Los Angeles (2010), and San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, CA (2009). Brooks works out of his home studio in Los Angeles, CA.

Editorial Team